Matthew Hayden’s bat hasn’t done much talking on this tour but given his imposing past record, the Aussie batsman is hoping some aggressive posturing might still rattle Anil Kumble&rsquo ;s camp ahead of the third Test.

To that end, the belligerent opener continued taking potshots at Zaheer Khan as the Aussies resumed training here on Sunday. Hayden has had a dismal first two Tests, scoring just 42 runs at 10.50 and falling to Zaheer thrice in four innings. But he casually maintained it was easy getting under the Indian pacer’s skin.

‘‘Zaheer has been put under pressure a lot by myself and (Adam) Gilchrist in the ODIs and I’ve tried to emulate that in Tests. Zaheer is vulnerable when I do that,’’ he told reporters, adding: ‘‘I play my best when I’ve got good presence and good intent. I’ve been extremely successful against Zaheer and I believe he knows it as well.’’

Prior to this series, Hayden had notched up 793 runs at 61 in seven Tests on Indian soil, including two centuries and three fifties. But that average is largely due to a 203 at the Chepauk on the 2001 tour. Subsequently, he has just one halfcentury from the last 13 innings on these shores. During that period, he has also lost his wicket to Zaheer seven times in 11 Tests, and the unusually long stint at nets on Sunday was an indication that the batsman is under pressure to come good.

His recent poor form following a heel injury has been one of the significant reasons behind Australia’s lacklustre showing on this tour. There was no acknowledgement from Hayden, though, that some members of the team have been a bit off the boil. He instead suggested his maverick 20-ball 29 in the second innings in Mohali — with the team looking to bat out five sessions to save the game — was part of a carefully thought-out strategy to unsettle Zaheer.

Hayden tried to whack the first ball he faced from the bowler over mid-off, and though he got out soon to Harbhajan Singh playing another rash stroke, the batsman maintained Zaheer was riled enough to have run in and hurled abuses. ‘‘There is a method to my madness,’’ Hayden said, ‘‘I just feel like Zaheer is vulnerable when he’s like that. He loses consistency and control, which I can use to my advantage.’’

Hayden also made it clear Zaheer deserved to be fined 80% of his match fee in Mohali for the taunt. ‘‘After I got dismissed, Zaheer was obviously very excited and I think (match referee) Chris Broad dealt with it appropriately. We would’ve been disappointed if something hadn’t happened to Zaheer.’’

Hayden’s typically Australian mind games are understandable given Sourav Ganguly’s comments in Mohali about how ‘‘Hayden is still the most feared batsman and we are hoping he starts getting runs only after this series’’. Indeed, Hayden was a bit unlucky to be given out early in Bangalore in both innings. ‘‘I’ve put in a lot of work in a month in India but it has not quite paid off. But I’m very confident a big score is round the corner,’’ Hayden said.

So will an aggressive intent succeed in making Zaheer, at the peak of form, go to pieces? Rahul Dravid, for one, doesn’t agree. ‘‘The Aussies are not used to such failure,’’’ he said, ‘‘Zaheer is bowling his best, his rhythm is getting better with each game. He’s hitting the right areas a lot better. Our new-ball bowlers have got us the early breakthroughs with their reverse swing and the scoreboard has been a reflection of that.’’

Hayden too agreed that reverse swing had posed the most threat this time around. ‘‘Whenever we come here, the talk is always about spin. But reverse swing is something we have come across in the past. We know it’s a weapon in the modern game with wickets playing good and hard. But I think our strategy is good enough.’’

The time for talk, though, gets over on Wednesday. With two Tests remaining, Hayden must walk the walk at the Kotla to salvage Australia’s chances.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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